Red, White, and Plastic: The American Dream

By Isabelle Naimo

America is a country of consumers, a pre-packaged and processed society. Nothing paints this image to be truer than the online movie entitled The Story of Stuff. Written and narrated by Annie Leonard, the animated short simplifies the complex cycle of material goods. Leonard’s narration was personable. She comes off like the woman next door – a wife and mother. The style of the movie made the information easy to digest and its short length dove right into the facts, leaving the viewer no chance to become bored. This is the sort of movie that should be played in a classroom; it’s friendly to children of all ages. After all, the next generation is the future of our planet.

Not only does Leonard’s friendly and welcoming persona make it watchable, the information she’s feeding us is so downright relatable. Leonard hits home when she talks about “planned obsolescence” and “perceived obsolescence.” The latter refers to goods that are ‘ready to dump.’ A prime example of this is my MacBook that was purchased in 2009. Technology is advancing so rapidly that my laptop is near obsolete. It’s no longer compatible with the newer IPhones and software updates.

So, what happens when my laptop isn’t able to keep up with the upgraded technology? I’ll have to buy a new one and in regard to the price tag of a MacBook, it’s no secret this is exactly what big corporations like Apple want. Perceived obsolescence refers to new technology (the MacBook Pro Apple’s trying to force me to purchase), fashion trends, and other trending material goods. Television commercials flood our brains telling us, the consumer, that we’re not yet good enough – but we might be if we buy this new product. As a woman in her mid-20’s, I know all about this.

Julia Corbett touches base on the irony of consumerism in the chapter titled “Work and Consumer Culture” of Communicating Nature. She discusses the importance, feeling of self worth, and respect that comes with employment in America. But having a job doesn’t equate to happiness or feeling fulfilled, especially if all these hard workers are finding their escape to be at their local shopping mall. “By the 1990s, the average American owned and consumed twice as much … but also had less free time.” Why spend 40 or more hours a week at work, only to spend the hard-earned money on things we don’t need? As noted in the following chapter, “Leisure in Nature as Commodity and Entertainment.” even leisurely activities in nature have become taken over by consumerism. As consumers, we are even told that we need a certain product to enjoy the natural world, whether it is the newest camping tents and portable grills to bug spray.

These consumer ways are destroying the world’s resources, lesser-developed countries, and even America’s own citizens. Blue-collared workers who have no choice but to work long hours, exposed to chemicals, because the money leaves them with no other choice. Television series 30 Days brings its viewers into the lives of such workers first hand with its episode “Working In A Coal Mine.” Morgan Spurlock, creator and host of the series, spends 30 days… you guessed it, working in a coal mine. Spurlock’s concept of putting himself into their shoes and immersing himself into their lifestyle was a captivating method of showcasing the reality of this lifestyle to his viewers. These workers put their lives and health in danger everyday so that the common American can watch TV, turn on the lights, go on the Internet, etc. One miner told Spurlock in regards to why he does it, “The money. Gotta eat. Gotta pay for them toys.”

Additionally, it was shocking and so disgusting to see the filter of the mask Spurlock wore while he was in the mine. After only one hour, the filter was nearly completely clogged with black debris. It was enough to make me want to turn off all the power outlets in my house in hopes of saving someone’s lungs out there.

But this need to consume isn’t only harming humans. It harms wildlife and sea creatures as well. Synthetic Sea exposes this truth with hard-hitting images that are anything but pleasant to see. Dolphins, fish, as well as other marine life feed on plankton in the ocean. But the fact that there is so much waste lingering in the ocean as small particles that can be mistaken as plankton means that these beautiful creatures are actually ingesting trash. The image of a bird’s ripped open carcass revealed contents of plastic man-made materials in his digestive tract. As the old saying goes, “I have to see it to believe it.” And I definitely saw it.

30 Days and Synthetic Sea both allow the viewer to witness the unsettling consequences of consuming resources and producing waste. While seeing the horrific damage that has already been done can be discouraging, steps can be taken to reduce the amounts at which we consume and produce trash. In, “No Impact Man”, Colin Beavan and Lauren Singer both defied the standardized way of living and vowed to live impact-free.

No Impact Man, directed by Justin Schein and Laura Gabbert, follows the yearlong pilgrimage of New York City dwellers Colin Beavan and his family as they strive to reduce their carbon footprint. That means no cars or subways, no electricity in their home, no food that wasn’t locally grown, not even toilet paper or disposable diapers for Beavan’s 2-year-old daughter. What makes this documentary so special is how likeable I find these people to be. Beavan completely embraces this newfound way of life but his witty wife has a hard time even giving up her daily Starbucks. It’s almost as if I see myself in both of them. On one hand, I want to ride my bicycle around joyfully, shopping only at farmer’s markets, totally infatuated with this no impact lifestyle. But on the other hand, no coffee? No toilet paper? Toilet paper?

What allows me to relate to Beavan and his wife as I witness their entertaining journey is how the directors keep the focus on them throughout the documentary. The film is unbiased; depicting both the family’s triumphs and struggles and even including the sour criticism they received. It’s that authenticity that draws in the viewer, granting them the opportunity to find their own conclusion about the no impact lifestyle and conceivably inspire them to embark on their own crusade.

Chelsea Huang for AOL wrote an article about another New Yorker, Laura Singer, who has barely produced any trash in two years. Singer, a 23-year-old, fits the amount of trash she has produced over the two years in a single mason jar. Huang highlights Singer’s clothing style, painting her in our minds as “clad in slouchy black slacks, black crop top and leather moto vest.” Huang also describes Singer’s apartment to be just as stylish with “shabby-chic décor”. Arguably irrelevant information, Huang includes this in the article to show her readers that they don’t have to sacrifice fashionable good looks and comfort in order to save the environment. This tactic is especially appealing to women readers.

Singer felt “hypocritical” as a promoter of sustainability but still using plastic goods, which encouraged her to opt it out of her life altogether. Her story is inspirational, as well as Beavan’s. I’m sometimes plagued with a similar feeling of hypocrisy, and I can imagine my peers involved in sustainability can also relate. Being introduced to Singer and Beavan’s stories on the personal level the article and documentary portrayed can be the extra push to inspire more people to ditch plastic. It can be an unthinkable feet at first but both Singer and Beavan were able to make the change. Both are in two different places in life and prove that anyone, regardless of career and personal life, can do it as well. So, what’s stopping those of us who haven’t? (Besides Starbucks).

Those who live on the West Coast don’t even have to answer that question. Well, sort of. They can buy as many plastic packaged goods as they want but their grocery bags will certainly be anything but. After years of trying, California became the first U.S. state to ban plastic grocery bags. And from what I can gather, that’s only the beginning. The CNN article, written by Ben Rooney, claims that states such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts are all considering imposing tax on plastic bags that the shopper would have to pay. As grocery stories like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes encourage their shoppers to use reusable tote bags and even opt to only provide recycled paper bags, there are still countless other grocery chains that stick with plastic. An added tax would definitely cause people to go plastic-free, even if they do it while kicking and screaming.

It can seem like a no-brainer to ditch plastic bags but there has actually been some speculation suggesting the ban isn’t helping the environment. Oppositions range from reusable and paper bags having a larger carbon footprint, a spike in plastic garbage bag sales (since most shoppers reuse their grocery plastic bags for other domestic needs such as picking up pet waste or as bathroom garbage bag), to the calculation that reusable cotton bags would need to be used 131 times in order to compete with a plastic bag’s contribution to climate change. Whatever the case may be, the need for plastic bags is certainly becoming obsolete. And it’s time to kick our old consumer ways. We, as a society, need to make do and appreciate what we have instead of retreating to the nearest department store in hopes of finding happiness. I, for one, am all for it. Now I no longer have to wear last season’s clothes in shame!